From His earliest childhood Baha’u’llah was singled out
among His siblings by relatives and family friends, whose composite opinion was
that the Child had extraordinary powers of intellect, wisdom and innate
knowledge, and was superior to others of his age and class. A common prediction
applied to the little Baha’u’llah in that superstitious age of high child
mortality was that 'such a precocious Child will not survive!' [1], for it was
anticipated that child prodigies were especially fated to suffer early doom.
All who encountered Him in those years of boyhood admitted that he was gifted
in every way, and in addition was adorned with a rare purity and nobility. [2]
- David Ruhe (‘Robe of Light’)
[1] 'Abdu'l-Baha, quoted in Star of the West, Vol. 3, NO.9,
p. 3 (1912)
[2] 'Abdu'l-Baha, ‘A Traveler's Narrative’